Electromagnetic fuel-pump and circuit therefor



C. C. BRDBURY.

ELECTROMAGNETIC FUEL PUMP AND CIRCUIT THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY Is, 1916.

1,837,888. Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ZUf/zey C. C. BRADBURY.

ELECTROMAGNETIC FUEL PUMP AND CIRCUIT THEREFOR.

APPLICATION HLED MAY 19, 1916.

1,337,388. Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

CLIFFORD C. BRADBURY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ELECTROMAGNETIC FUEL-PUMP AND CIRCUIT THEREFOR.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

Application filed May 19, 1916. Serial No. 98,560.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CLIFFORD C. BRAD- BURY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElectromagnetic Fuel-Pumps and Circuits Therefor, of which the followingis a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to electro-magnetic fuel pumps and circuittherefor. The object of the invention is to provide simple and positivemeans for pumping gasolene from a tank at a lower level to the floatchamber of a carbureter, which means is not dependent upon the rotationof the engine itself.

Systems for raising fuel from a lower level to that of the carbureterhave been proposed and used in the past, but so far as I am aware theyeither depend upon some manual operation to start the initial flow, orelse depend upon some operation produced by the rotation of the engineitself; thus, when the gasolene has `become exhausted from the mainsupply tank and no fuel is left for the rotation of the engine it oftenbecomes diflicult to secure the first quantity of gasolene forpropelling the engine to cause the continued flow of fuel to thecarbureter.

My invention is illustrated in connection with a simple electric circuitcontrolled by the main starting switch for the engine, the arrangementpreferably being such that when the switch is moved to its operatingposition, that is, to the position in which the ignition circuit isclosed, the electro-magnetic pump circuit is simultaneously closed. Thedetails of construction and the particular arrangement of parts of apreferred form of my invention are described in the followingspecification, and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings inwhich,

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an automobile provided with theelectro-magnetic fuel pump of my invention, some of the parts of theautomobile being broken away to more clearly illustrate the constructionand positions of the various parts associated with the fuel pump;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the fuel pump; and

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the pump with the end cap removed.

.Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views. Referring first to Fig. 1, 4 illustrates an internalcombustion engine provided with an intake manifold 5. Secured to theintake manifold is a carbureter 6 provided with a fuel or float chamber7. This fuel chamber communicates with a conduit 8 extending downwardlyinto the fuel supply reservoir 9. This reservoir is located at a levellower than the level of the fuel within the fuel chamber 7 of thecarbureter and is provided with a vent opening to subject the fuelcontained therein to atmospheric pressure. Located within the conduit 8so as to form a part thereof is an electro-magnetic fuel pump 10 whichserves when caused to operate to pump fuel from a lower level, that is,fromthe fuel supply reservoir, up to the lioat chamber 7 of thecarbureter.

The detailed construction of the electromagnetic fuel pump isillustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 wherein 11 illustrates a pipe or conduit,preferably made of nonmagnetic materi al, having one end 12 iiaredoutwardly to form a chamber 13. Secured to the portion 12 of the pipe 11in any suitable manner is a cap 14 having an outwardly extending collar15. This collar is externally threaded to permit connection of thatportion of the conduit 8 which extends between the pump and the fuelreservoir 9. The narrow end of the pipe l1 is also externally threadedto permit connection with that portion of the conduit 8- whichcommunicates with the fioat chamber 7 of the carbureter. Mounted withinthe pipe 11 and arranged to reciprocate longitudinally therein is anarmature pump piston 16 made of magnetic material. This piston, asillustrated, contains a valve seat 17 against which is arranged to seata ball valve 18. Means may be provided such as a rod 19 to keep the ballvalve in position within the armature pump piston. The inner end of thepiston 16 carries a collar 2O into which loosely extends a pipe 21,preferably made of non-magnetic material. This pipe has its end, whichterminates within the piston 16, iared outwardly at 22 so as to preventthe removal of the pipe from the interior of the piston. The right handend (Fig. 2) of'the pipe 21 extends loosely through an insulating collar23 rigidly carried by the pipe 11, and carries within the chamber 13 aninsulating collar 24 grooved at 25 to receive the bifurcated extension26 of a switch spring 27. This switch spring 27 extends verticallywithin the chamber 13 and has its lower end extending into a V notch 28provided in an insulating piece 29 carried by the portion 12 of the pipe11. The upper end of the switch spring 27 extends into the V 30y formedof the conductor strip 31 insulated from the portion12 by means of aninsulating strip 32. A binding post is provided y'at 33 which haselectrical engagement with the conductor strip 31, but which isinsulated from the portion 12 of the pipe 11.

As most clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, the spring switch 27 has a lengthwhich is greater than the distance between the V notches 28 and 30 sothat the spring 27 will at all times assume a position either on oneside or the other of a straight line connecting the V notches, or, inother words, the spring will always assume a position somewhat like thearc of a circle. Carried by the vspring at the lower end of the chamber13 is a contact 34 arranged to coperate with a stationary contact 35rigidly carried by and insulated from the portion 12 of the pipe 11.This stationary contact is connected by means of a conductor 36 with anelectromagnetic coil 37 disposed around the pipe 11. The opposite end ofthe coil 37 is connected with the binding post 38.

Disposed around the pipe 21 and extending between the insulating collar23 and the armature pump piston 1'6is a compressionl spring39 tending toat all times move the piston to the left (Fig. 2). A valve member 40 isprovided within the collar 15 which contains a valve seat 41 coperatingwith a ball valve 42.

In the operation of the device the battery is connected with the bindingposts 33 and 38 and the pump held in a position such that n the spring27 extends vertically within the until the shoulder 43 engages theflared end 22 of the pipe 21. When this takes place the pipe 21 will begiven a slight longitudinal movement to the right (Fig. 2) to cause theseparation of the contacts 34 and 35. As soon as the contacts are thusseparated the electric circuit for `the coil 37 is suddenly interruptedand the magnetic attraction discontinued whereby the spring 39 serves tomove the piston 16 again to the position illustrated in Fig. 2.` Uponagain returning to this position the collar 2O of the piston strikes theflared end 22 of the pipe 21 again closing the contacts 34 and 35 torepeat the operation just described. It will be apparent, therefore,when the valves 18 and 42 are taken into consideration that uponreciprocation of the piston 16 fuel will be pumped from the supplyreservoir 9 up into the fuel chamber 7 of the carbureter.

Since the chamber 13 extends below the pipe 11 fuel will be trapped inthe lower end of the chamber which forms a pocket to at all timessubmerge the contacts 34 and 35 within the fuel. By thus submerging thecontacts the explosion of a gaseous mixture within the pump or withinthe conduit 8 is prevented.

1 shall now describe the mechanism for causing the operation of theelectro-magnetic pump when a main switch, such as an ignition circuitswitch, for controlling the operation of the engine, is operated so thatupon placing the internal combustion engine in operative condition thepump will simultaneously be provided with an energizing circuit and whenthe ignition circuit is interrupted the pump circuit is alsointerrupted. The binding post 33 is connected by means of a conductor 45with the contact 46 of the main switch 47. The binding post 38 isconnected through the conductor 48 with the negative terminal of thebattery 49. The positive terminal of the battery connects through theconductor 5,0 with the arms 51 and 52 of the switch.v Connected with thecontact 53 is the conductor 54 extending to the ignition mechanismdiagrammatically illustrated at 55. The arms 51 and 52 are arranged sothat when the arm 52 engages the contact 53 the arm 51 will at the sametime electrically engage the Contact 46 and the disengagement of one ofthe arms from its contact will cause similar disengagement of the otherarm from its contact. VWhen, therefore, the switch is moved to operatingposition a circuit is provided from the positive pole of the batterythrough conductor 50, switch arm 51, contact 46, conductor 45, coil 37of the electro-magnetic pump, and conductor 48 back to the negative'pole of the battery, the energizing circuit of the pump being thuscompleted. When the switch is in this position a second circuit is alsoprovided which extends from the positive pole of the battery "irough theswitch arm 52, contact 53, ignition mechanism 55, and back to thenegative pole of the battery through ground as shown.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

l. A fuel pump for feeding fuel from a supply reservoir to a carbureterat a higher level than the reservoir comprising a fuel conduit, anelectro-magnetic coil disposed around tlie conduit, an armature pumppiston reciprocable longitudinally within the conduit, a fuel pocketcommunicating with the conduit, and automatic switching means submergedin the fuel contained in the pocket, said means being in circuit withthe coil to cause energization or denergization of the electro-magneticcoil.

2. A fuel pump for feeding fuel from a supply reservoir to a carburetorat a higher level than the reservoir comprising a fuel conduit, anelectro-magnetic coil disposed around the conduit, an armature pumppiston reciprocable longitudinally Within the conduit, a fuel pocketcommunicating with the conduit, and automatic switching means operatedby the piston submerged in the fuel contained in the pocket, said meansbeing in circuit with the coil to cause energization or denergization ofthe electro-magnetic coil.

3. A fuel pump comprising a conduit, 'an electro-magnetic coil disposedaround the conduit, an armature pump piston reciprocably mounted withinthe conduit, a switch for controlling the circuit of the electromagneticcoil, said switch comprising a stationary contact and a snap switchspring fixed at both ends and arranged to bulge intermediate its ends,and means whereby the spring is operated at the completion of eachstroke of the armature piston to close or open the coil circuit, as thecase may be. l. A fuel pump comprising a conduit, an electro-magneticcoil disposed around the conduit, an armature pump piston reciprocablymounted within the conduit, a fuel pocket extending downwardly from theconduit, a switch for controlling the-circuit of the electro-magneticcoil, said switch comprising a stationary contact submerged in the fuelcontained in the pocket, and a snap switch spring fixed at both ends andarranged to bulge intermediate its ends, and means whereby the spring isopera-ted at the completion of each stroke of the armature piston toclose or open the coil circuit.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 16th day of May,A. D. 1916.

CLIFFORD C. 'BRADBURY Witnesses MARY A. COOK, FRANK F. A. ANDERSEN.

